Key global physical oil price soars to highest since 2008

The world's most important indicator of real world oil prices Dated Brent at trading on April 2 exceeded $140 per barrel. This is the highest value since 2008.

Dated Brent reflects the value of batches of oil sold and bought in the North Sea. The figure reached $141.37 on Thursday, surpassing 2022 levels, Bloomberg wrote, citing data from S&P Global.

The last time Dated Brent reached such levels was 18 years ago, when the global financial crisis was developing. The current jump in prices reflects rising demand for oil in the North Sea, where traders have been willing to pay record premiums for supplies in recent days, Bloomberg notes.

The sharp rise in Dated Brent points to a widening gap between futures contracts and parts of the physical market, where prices are increasingly reflecting supply shortages, Bloomberg emphasizes.

Dated Brent underpins much of the trading of real oil cargoes, where substantial amounts of supply have been lost due to the US war with Iran. At the same time, the futures market is more focused on financial trading of so-called "paper barrels", Bloomberg explains.

Unlike Dated Brent, Brent futures traded on the Intercontinental Exchange remain below 2022 levels and were around $109 a barrel on Thursday. This is because Dated Brent reflects the price of oil with a closer delivery date, Bloomberg explains.

The energy crisis was caused by the disruption of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf to the open sea. Before the war, about 20% of the world's oil supply passed through it, but Iran effectively closed it after the outbreak of hostilities. The International Energy Agency estimates that this caused the biggest supply disruption in the history of the oil market.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor